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Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs west -- the myths that mystify

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Sam Harris: on the dangers of the atheist label & the value of meditation

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Thich Nhat Hanh: Peace is Every Step

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Latest Activity

Ann Braun left a comment for Greg Littlewood

3 hours ago

Ann Braun replied to Valerie's discussion 'Buddhism and Christianity'

John, Thank you. I can't read pali, sanskrit or tibetan and have not studied texts extensively or deeply as you and others have so can't take part in debates such as this one. But the sharing of your experience has hit me straight in the heart. W...

yesterday

Ann Braun replied to Chris McCarthy's discussion 'PodCasts and Audio Talks'

I find that Stephen's talks inspire me to practice -- here is a comment posted previously that goes into why I find them inspiring

yesterday

Ann Braun left a comment for The Barometer

on Saturday

Welcome to (this) space!

Profile Information

City

Nelson, New Zealand

Practice level

mature

About Me:

Since Dec 2008 I've been serving as a "community steward" and administrator for this site, working with Tracy Ormond to welcome new members, and actively looking for opportunities to enrich the site. I've been engaged with online Communities of Practice since 2000 and have had the good fortune to study with other facilitators through participation in http://cpsquare.org

Childhood and Family: Born in Athens and early yrs spent in Greece, followed by several yrs living with parents during job assignments in various European countries. Study in the US followed. Met husband in 1983 in Colombia while doing research for a graduate degree in Ecology. Our daughter and son are in their second and last years of university.

Professional life: have lived in the UK, Colombia, Indonesia and New Zealand; started in agroecological research and from there moved into developing and teaching participatory research methods, and most recently into evaluating donor-funded international development interventions and supporting organisations wishing to develop evaluation skills.

Practice: Painful family of origin issues and an encounter with a teacher spurred interest in meditation. After 10 yrs of reading about Buddhism and doing the odd bit of meditation this erratic "practice" hit a wall. This came at a time of other big changes; a family problem led us to resign, after 20 yrs of international work, and immigrate to New Zealand. There opportunities arose to hear teachers from a variety of traditions. I felt drawn to the Tibetan, took refuge and did my first meditation retreat. I met a teacher, helped to set up a centre, organised annual trips to eastern Tibet and began the Ngondro practices. But questions arose about whether this was the right practice setting for me. After much heart searching, I began to look for alternatives and this led to Unfettered Mind. The first encounter was with Google metadata: "For people whose path lies outside established centers and institutions." This really resonated and eventually I made contact despite the great geographical distance. I've been working with Ken for about three years and increasingly, with others in the network.

Website:

http://abraunw.blogspot.com/

What brought you to the Unfettered Mind community site?

A conviction that my path lies outside institutional forms; Interest in connecting with others who are studying and practicing the approaches taught in Wake up to Your Life and Unfettered Mind retreats and classes; a longing to be part of the environments of awareness created by people in this network ...........

Ann Braun's Blog

Visualizing the Unfettered Mind Network (Part VI)

Posted on September 9, 2009 at 7:30am — 5 Comments

Visualizing the Unfettered Mind Network (Part V)

Posted on September 6, 2009 at 6:30pm — 2 Comments

Supports for practice

These are resources that have touched me deeply as inspiration or instructions for practice:

Relationships and what compromises them:
This framework, presented by Ken McLeod in several podcasts including Relationship and Conflict has proved very useful personally and professionally.

Related to the relationship framework are "the four ways of working": Pacification, Enrichment, Magnetisation and Destruction, which Ken describes and explains in several podcasts including Relationship and Conflict and Warrior's Solution.

For inspiration I return again and again to Stephen Batchelor's 2005 and 2007 talks on the life of the Buddha which can be accessed at Dharma Seed.

For tools to work with those pesky reactive patterns:
Ken's retreat podcasts on Releasing Reactive Emotions
Martine Batchelor's book: Let Go

Other supports:
Nancy White's page on social media

Comment Wall (49 comments)

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At 12:57pm on November 28, 2009, Anne Conn said…: Ann, Thanks for being in touch. I contacted Jesse, and am at work on my first transcript. Best, Anne

At 8:20am on November 17, 2009, Rita Frizzell said…: Thank you, Ann, I'll check with Jim.

At 8:22am on November 16, 2009, Rita Frizzell said…: Hi Ann! Actually, it's for a study group that meets at my house in Nashville, TN, every Friday. http://www.luminousmind.net. I've been putting together various studies for years, but Ken's book represents such a thorough curriculum, I think it would be great to go through it with a group of dedicated fellow students.

At 11:08pm on November 6, 2009, Chih-Wei,Lo said…: Yes, I try to teach them by following the Lamrim frame work but it didn't quite work out, on the other hand i also found Jataka tales just non sense for children's thinking. If the right faith is develop from the faults, it's like a tree been plant on the surface of water, it will sink. So still trying different methods.

At 5:10pm on October 31, 2009, Ann Braun said…: 1. Living in the World with Dhamma

--by Ajahn Chah

This piece by Ajahn Chah appeared in today's edition of Insight Aotearoa. I find it very resonant:

Living in the World with Dhamma

--by Ajahn Chah

Most people don't know the essence of meditation practice. They think that walking meditation, sitting meditation and listening to Dhamma talks are the practice. That's true too, but these are only the outer forms of practice. The real practice takes place when the mind encounters a sense object. That's the place to practice, where sense contact occurs. When people say things we don't like there is resentment, if they say things we like we experience pleasure. Now this is the place to practice. How are we going to practice with these things? This is the crucial point. If we just run around chasing after happiness and away from suffering all the time we can practice until the day we die and never see the Dhamma. This is useless. When pleasure and pain arise how are we going to use the Dhamma to be free of them? This is the point of practice.

Usually when people encounter something disagreeable to them they don't open up to it. Such as when people are criticized: "Don't bother me! Why blame me?" This is someone who's closed himself off. Right there is the place to practice. When people criticize us we should listen. Are they speaking the truth? We should be open and consider what they say. Where there is confusion is where peace can arise. When confusion is penetrated with understanding what remains is peace.

Whether you are standing, sitting, or walking around in various places, you can always study the things around you. We study in the natural way, receptive to all things, be they sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings or thoughts. The wise person considers them all. In the real practice, we come to the point where there are no longer any concerns weighing on the mind.

If we still don't know like and dislike as they arise, there is still some concern in our minds. If we know the truth of these things, we reflect, "Oh, there is nothing to this feeling of liking here. It's just a feeling that arises and passes away. Dislike is nothing more, just a feeling that arises and passes away. Why make anything out of them?" If we think that pleasure and pain are personal possessions, then we're in for trouble, we never get beyond the point of having some concern or other in an endless chain. This is how things are for most people.

If we have family and responsibilities how are we to practice? Some people say it's impossible to practice Dhamma as a layperson. Consider, which group is larger, monks or laypeople? There are far more laypeople. Now if only the monks practice and laypeople don't, then that means there's going to be a lot of confusion. This is wrong understanding. "I can't become a monk..." Becoming a monk isn't the point! Being a monk doesn't mean anything if you don't practice. If you really understand the practice of dhamma then no matter what position or profession you hold in life, be it a teacher, doctor, civil servant or whatever, you can practice the Dhamma every minute of the day.

To think you can't practice as a layman is to lose track of the path completely. Why is it people can find the incentive to do other things? If they feel they are lacking something they make an effort to obtain it. If there is sufficient desire people can do anything. Some say, "I haven't got time to practice the Dhamma." I say, "Then how come you've got time to breathe?" Breathing is vital to people's lives. If they saw Dhamma practice as vital to their lives they would see it as important as their breathing.

The practice of dhamma isn't something you have to go running around for or exhaust yourself over. Just look at the feelings which arise in your mind. When the eye sees form, ear hears sounds, nose smells odors and so on, they all come to this one mind, "the one who knows." Now when the mind perceives these things what happens? If we like that object we experience pleasure, if we dislike it we experience displeasure. That's all there is to it.

So where are you going to find happiness in this world? Do you expect everybody to say only pleasant things to you all your life? Is that possible? No, it's not. If it's not possible then where are you going to go? The world is simply like this, we must know the world — Lokavidu — know the truth of this world. The world is something we should clearly understand. The Buddha lived in this world, he didn't live anywhere else. He experienced family life, but he saw its limitations and detached himself from them. Now how are you as laypeople going to practice? If you want to practice you must make an effort to follow the path. If you persevere with the practice you too will see the limitations of this world and be able to let go.

The value of Dhamma isn't to be found in books. those are just the external appearances of Dhamma, they're not the realization of Dhamma as a personal experience. If you realize the Dhamma you realize your own mind, you see the truth there. When the truth becomes apparent it cuts off the stream of delusion.

The teaching of the Buddha is the unchanging truth, whether in the present or in any other time. The Buddha revealed this truth 2,500 years ago and it's been the truth ever since. This teaching should not be added to or taken away from. The Buddha said, "What the Tathagata has laid down should not be discarded, what has not been laid down by the Tathagata should not be added on to the teachings." He "sealed off" the Teachings. Why did the Buddha seal them off? Because these Teachings are the words of one who has no defilements. No matter how the world may change these Teachings are unaffected, they don't change with it. If something is wrong, even if people say it's right doesn't make it any the less wrong. If something is right, it doesn't change any just because people say it's not. Generation after generation may come and go but these things don't change, because these Teachings are the truth.

Now who created this truth? The truth itself created the truth! Did the Buddha create it? No, he didn't. The Buddha only discovered the truth, the way things are, and then he set out to declare it. The truth is constantly true, whether a Buddha arises in the world or not. The Buddha only "owns" the Dhamma in this sense, he didn't actually create it. It's been here all the time. However, previously no-one had searched for and found the Deathless, then taught it as the Dhamma. He didn't invent it, it was already there.

At some point in time the truth is illuminated and the practice of Dhamma flourishes. As time goes on and generations pass away the practice degenerates until the Teaching fades away completely. After a time the Teaching is re-founded and flourishes once more. As time goes on the adherents of the Dhamma multiply, prosperity sets in, and once more the Teaching begins to follow the darkness of the world. And so once more it degenerates until such a time as it can no longer hold ground. Confusion reigns once more. Then it is time to re-establish the truth. In fact the truth doesn't go anywhere. When Buddhas pass away the Dhamma doesn't disappear with them.

The world revolves like this. It's something like a mango tree. The tree matures, blossoms, and fruits appear and grow to ripeness. They become rotten and the seed goes back into the ground to become a new mango tree. The cycle starts once more. Eventually there are more ripe fruits which proceed to fall, rot, sink into the ground as seeds and grow once more into trees. This is how the world is. It doesn't go very far, it just revolves around the same old things.

Suppose there was a cart being pulled by an ox. The wheels aren't long, but the tracks are. As long as the ox pulls the cart the tracks will follow. The wheels are round yet the tracks are long; the tracks are long yet the wheels are merely circles. Just looking at a stationary cart you can't see anything long about it, but once the ox starts moving you see the tracks stretching out behind you. As long as the ox pulls, the wheels keep on turning... but there comes a day when the ox tires and throws off its harness. The ox walks off and leaves the empty cart sitting there. The wheels no longer turn. In time the cart falls apart, its components go back into the four elements — earth, water, wind and fire.

Searching for peace within the world you stretch the cart wheel tracks endlessly behind you. As long as you follow the world there is no stopping, no rest. If you simply stop following it, the cart comes to rest, the wheels no longer turn. Following the world turns the wheels ceaselessly. Creating bad kamma is like this. As long as you follow the old ways there is no stopping. If you stop there is stopping. This is how we practice the Dhamma.